Astra 1M
Astra 1M is a geostationary communications satellite which is operated by SES. It is positioned in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 19.2° East, from where it is used to provide direct to home broadcasting to Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
Astra 1M was built by Astrium under a contract signed in July 2005, and is based on the Eurostar 3000S satellite bus. It is equipped with thirty six transponders operating in the J-band of the NATO-defined spectrum, or the Ku-band of the older IEEE-defined spectrum. At launch it had a mass of, with an expected operational lifespan of 15 years, however four of its transponders were deactivated five years after launch. At the beginning of its operational life, it had a maximum power consumption of 10 kilowatts by the end of the satellite's operational life.
Launch
The launch of Astra 1M was conducted by International Launch Services, using a Proton-M launch vehicle with a Briz-M upper stage. The launch occurred from Site 200/39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, at 20:44:20 UTC on 5 November 2008. Astra 1M was successfully placed into a geostationary transfer orbit, from which it raised itself to geostationary orbit by means of an onboard apogee motor.